Alexandria > Studies

Religion and beliefs

Religion & beliefs

The underwater excavations in the Eastern Port of Alexandria have revealed the remarkable remains of statues which allow the religious world of ancient city to be outlined. The torso of the god Hermes is a beautiful example of the talent of the sculptors of the Hellenistic period (SCA 532). Preserved [...] Continued »

Port Infrastructure

Organization of the Eastern Port of Alexandria

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC on the western margin of the Nile Delta, Alexandria developed over several centuries thanks to its particular geomorphology and the careful management of the coastline. An outcrop of Pleistocene sandstone substrate provided a stable foundation for construction, while also supplying building material. [...] Continued »

Trade & Commerce

Alexandria, trading hub to the world

Within a few decades of its founding in 331 BC, through the mass of its population and their activity, Alexandria was drawing to itself a major part of Mediterranean and Eritrean trade, taking full advantage of the expansion of the maritime world which began in the middle of the first [...] Continued »

Naval construction

The Roman Shipwreck of Antirhodos Island

Between 1998 and 1999 three excavations were made of the wreck of an ancient ship, found in the Eastern Harbour of Alexandria on the site of the sunken ancient Portus Magnus, near the island of Antirhodos mentioned by classical authors. The ship had been found during the geophysical and archaeological [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Ceramics

Ceramics

Surveys and excavations conducted by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology at the sites of Heracleion and Canopus (east of the peninsula of Abukir) and in the Eastern Port of Alexandria, have begun to deliver remarkable ceramic material, both intact and broken. Very often the first datable elements of occupation, [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Coins

Numismatics

From Alexandria to Canopus and Heracleion: the coins

Over the centuries since they were deserted by their last inhabitants, it has been the fate of many ancient city sites to be stripped of their contents and identity. Usable stone is quarried; the great buildings of the past tumble, streets fill with [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Statuary

Statuary

The most important statuary discoveries on the sites of Portus Magnus of Alexandria, Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus were studied by Professor Jean Yoyotte (Honorary professor at the Collège de France) (SCA 208, 279, 280, 453, 454, 455, 541, 542), Prof. John Baines (University of Oxford) (SCA 281), Prof. Robert RR Smith [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Statuettes

Statuettes

The archaeological material from the different areas of the archaeological excavation of the Portus Magnus will be published in F Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archaeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming. [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Jewellery

Jewellery

The few jewellery objects found in the eastern harbour of Alexandria have been published in the catalogue of the exhibition Egypt’s Sunken Treasures
(Fr. Goddio, D. Fabre (eds), Le Seuil, Paris, 2006, as well as in the museum catalogue of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Z. Hawass (ed.) Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The Archaeology Museum, [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Weights and measures

Weights & Measures

A report on the objects found during the excavation of the different areas of the Portus Magnus will be published in F Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archaeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming. [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Metal artefacts

Metal artefacts

A study of the metal artefacts recovered by the archaeological excavations in different areas of the Portus Magnus will be published in Fr Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archaeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming. [...] Continued »

Material Culture | Stone artefacts

Stone artefacts

A study of the artefacts recovered by the archaeological excavations in different areas of the Portus Magnus will be published in Fr Goddio, D. Fabre (eds.), Alexandria. The topography of the Portus Magnus, Underwater archaeology in the Eastern Port of Alexandria in Egypt, OCMA Monograph, Oxford, forthcoming. [...] Continued »